TIED (A Fire Born Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Why’d you leave?” Tears sit on the verge of overflowing. I bite them back.
    “I should have explained.” He kicks at the ground. “I was trying to protect you.” Clear eyes cloud over with sorrow as he gazes into my face. “Forgive me?”
    I eye him back, puzzled. “You were talking to my mom in the hospital.”
    “Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were all right.” He takes a cautious step forward, shoving his hands in his pockets.
    “She asked you to stay away from me?”
    “For your safety, yes.” His voice remains low and uncertain.
    “For my safety ?” My throat tightens, heartache rising. “You were my best friend, and you left!” Tears roll down my face, anger burning my chest. “I needed you, and you were gone!”
    He rushes forward with arms out but recoils. “It killed me to leave. You must know that.”
    “I only know that I never saw you again.” My face flushes with heat, fury overriding sadness. “I’m delusional. Something is wrong with me. You can’t be real!”
    He grins, shaking his head. “I forgot how mad you can get. You’re not delusional, you know. Your mom just won’t let me see you. I’m breaking the rules right now.”
    I glare at him.
    “You don’t believe me?” He runs his hand through his hair and glances around the forest. “Listen, I can’t explain everything right now … and you probably wouldn’t believe me if I did.” Walking forward, he grabs my hand, warmth radiating up my arm, and gives me a sideways grin. “Come on.”
    “What?” I glance away, finding it difficult to concentrate.
    “I’ll race you to the falls.” He crouches, still smiling at me.
    “You want to race?” I have the urge to pull away my hand, now tingling with tiny shocks. “You’ve lost your mind, or I have since this is my hallucination.” I give a weak laugh.
    “You’re not hallucinating.” He huffs. “Trust me, please. Now, when I say go, go. Okay?”
    I shrug.
    He squeezes my hand, electricity racing up my arm. “Go!” He takes off, practically dragging me behind him. The rich smell of the forest inundates my senses. Cushioned grass under my feet, Max’s steady breathing, the wind in my hair—all come rushing back. He laughs—the sweetest sound I know.
    “Believe me now?” His voice carries over the wind rushing by my ears.
    I smile and let go of his hand, speeding passed him.
    “Layla, wait!” He reaches for my hand, and we leap off the ledge and plunge into the pool below, Max gripping my hand as if it’s a life raft, until our heads break the surface.
    Water streams down his face. “I missed you so much. Please forgive me.”
    “I missed you, too.” My voice hitches, as he gazes into my eyes. I splash him in the face. “Don’t leave again.”
    “I won’t.
    • • •

4
    I woke in my own bed, with a crick in my neck, hair damp, head spinning, wondering how I’d made it home from the hospital without any recollection.
    The sun sat below the horizon, sending a pale pink tinge across the surface of the water. Sunrise. Stillness penetrated the room. I laid an arm over my eyes, my throbbing head aching a little under the touch. With exhaustion still rolling through my body, the resonance of another impossible vision clattered in my thoughts.
    Something moved from within the shadows.
    I jumped and stared wide-eyed into the face of my hallucination.
    “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He sat on the edge of my bed. “Can I get you anything?”
    I closed my eyes again. “I’ve officially lost my mind.” I wondered whether the doctor had been wrong about my quickly healed concussion. I’d obviously done more harm to my already damaged brain.
    “Your head is fine.” He chuckled, and the bed shook. “I told you I wouldn’t leave.” He winked at me.
    I ignored the apparition, climbed out of bed, and stared into the bathroom mirror. My hair had little twigs in it, like I’d been thrashing around outdoors all night. I yanked them out and